Lobster Institute Receives the $100,000 Riverdale Challenge
Contact: Cathy Billings, The Lobster Institute (207) 581-2751
ORONO — The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine has received a leadership challenge gift from Riverdale Mills, Inc. of Northbridge, Massachusetts, as part of the institute’s C.O.R.E. Campaign. The award challenges theInstitute to raise $100,000, which Riverdale Mills will then match with its contribution of $100,000. Riverdale Mills is the leading supplier of coated wire used in making lobster traps, among other applications.
“I’ve been hauling lobster traps since the 1940s, and still hold a lobster license to this day,” says James Knott, founder and CEO of Riverdale Mills. “I’ve been a supporter of the Lobster Institute from day one. Like Riverdale Mills, the Lobster Institute takes an innovative and pro-active approach to doing business. They have always been responsive to the needs of the lobster industry…providing technical assistance for day-to-day operations as well as the scientific research needed to help secure the resource for the future. That’s why Riverdale Mills and the Knott family are supporting the Lobster Institute’s C.O.R.E. Campaign with this challenge gift.”
“To date, the institute has relied on grants and other catch-as-catch-can funding sources,” says Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute. “We have started this fundraising campaign to assure the Lobster Institute’s future and to create a more solid foundation for our ongoing research activities.” Jim is an active member of our campaign advisory committee, and he has truly taken a leadership role in every way. This gift from the Knotts, the Riverdale Challenge , is a great start to the ‘pacesetter phase’ of our campaign.”
The $4.8 million C.O.R.E. Campaign includes several goals: hiring a full-time director/lobster researcher; employing two additional scientists, in the areas of lobster health and value-added product development; and securing its operations for the future. These dedicated resources will address ongoing research needs and expand the depth and breadth of the Institute’s research as well as its industry outreach and educational programs.
“We know that challenge gifts do work as a great tool to leverage additional gifts,” Bayer adds. “Because of Riverdale Mills, Jim Knott, other campaign committee members and the Darden Restaurants Foundation, the campaign is off to a good start. We look forward to the momentum that will come from this new challenge.”
The mission of the Lobster Institute is to conduct and provide research to protect, conserve, and enhance the vitality of the lobster resource and the lobster fishing, both as an industry and as a way of life. The Institute conducts applied research and develops products and processes to meet the needs and challenges of the lobster industry. Founded by industry members in 1987, the Institute is part of the University of Maine’s research and public outreach program and is a collaborative effort between the University of Maine and the worldwide lobster industry.
Anyone interested learning more about the Lobster Institute and in making a contribution to help meet the Riverdale Challenge can contact Cathy Billings, assistant director of the Lobster Institute, at 207-581-2751 or log on to www.lobsterinstitute.org.